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The Mistress: Movie Review

This is probably the most anticipated film locally this year. This is so not only because "The Mistress" delves into the dark, provocative and controversial world of infidelity but it also reunites one of the iconic love teams of the new century. Unfortunately, while "The Mistress" mostly succeeds in the acting department, the story itself leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Not only is it surprisingly clichéd, it is also unreasonable and thus unbelievable at times. It's too bad that they tried to mix the unconventional with conventional footnotes or else this could probably have been one for the ages.
Architect Eric "JD" Torres (John Lloyd Cruz) instantly falls in love with a girl he meets at a local bookstore. Unfortunately for JD, the girl is not interested in him and leaves him without giving any details about herself. JD accidentally meets her again when his company's renovation project is her workplace at a tailoring shop. There he discovers that her name is Sari Alfonso (Bea Alonzo) and she is a seamstress. JD decides that he will pursue Sari until she falls in love with him. What JD does not know though is that his father's mistress - which is the cause of his mother's alcoholism and heartache for years - is Sari herself.

There is a fatal flaw in "The Mistress" that we cannot discount. It's not that we are not open to the idea of marriage infidelity and mistresses but the material just turned out crazy. JD in fact is the point of concern as he blatantly forces himself into Sari's life even though he already knows she is his father's mistress just because he falls in love the first time he sees her. Does this even make sense? Given how much he loves his mother and he knowing how much his mother hates Sari, why would he even pursue her? And it's this mish-mash of unconventional and conventional (that are also littered throughout other segments in the film) that has our emotions confused.

But "The Mistress" has its moments too. We really loved the idea where JD and Sari imagine that their were different from their circumstances, who would they see as their partner. The ending was a good one too. We won't spoil much but the open-ended nature at least saves the film from further burying itself and even leaves a mark of discussion for its viewers. Finally, the acting in particular was also a highlight for "The Mistress". If this is the showcase of how mature and how great Johnn Lloyd and Bea have become as actors the past decade, then this was the perfect vehicle to do that. It's rather unfortunate that the material fails to complement their efforts and talents.

Rating: 3 reels

Why you should watch it:
- the acting of its leads and supporting cast was top of class
- even with all its flaws, it has its memorable moments

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the film is a mixed bag of unconventional, conventional and unbelievable plot points that just don't gel together